Ladder for freight containers



1936. B. F. FITCH LADDER FOR FREIGHT CONTAINERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 31, 1933 Aug. 4, 1936. B. F. FITCH LADDER FOR FREIGHT CONTAINERS.

Filed Aug. 51, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Gamma/ I latented Aug. 4, 1936 V UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFWE Application August 31,

1933, Serial No. 687,663

9 Claims- (01. 2213-49;

This invention relates to a demountable automobile body adapted for mounting on a highway truck or on a railway fiat car and equipped with a ladder allowing the attendant to climbr'eadily to the top of the body. Such ladder is especially useful where the demountable body is carried on a railway fiat car; because if the body is of the most efficient width for truck transportation, it is so wide that there is little'side space left on the car for the attendantto walk alongside of the body on'the car-floor.- On the other hand, fixed ladders on the sides-of a container, if they project externally far enough to provide a good foothold, would materially reduce the permissible width of a container itself, and if on the ends, are likely to interfere with the mounting of the body close to the cab of a truck or close to another body on a railway car.

It is the object of this invention to provide a demountable body with a ladder so arranged as not to substantially increase the external dimensions of the body in the normal position of; the ladder, the ladder, however, being effective whenever desired for use. K

As it is desired to have a wide doorway in the end of the body, reaching nearly the fullwidth of the body, there areadvantages in mounting the ladder on the side of the body. adjacent one end. In fact, ordinarily there would be two ladders at diagonally opposite corners of the car and each mounted on the side.

To the above end, I have provided a folding ladder which may be mounted on a side wall of the body and folded up out of the way whenever the body is in position where the width must not be increased, and may be turned down to active position whenever it is permissible and desirable to use the ladder.

Instead of reducing the external width of the body at all, to provide for even the folded ladder, I may readily inset such ladder into the body a sufficient' distance so that when folded it will be entirely within the external plane of the wall, and thus for truck use the body of the maximum permissible width may be employed.

The legal limitation to certain maximum width for truck bodies on highways or city streets does not apply with the same force to rail transportation, since the greatest width permissible on highways and streets is less than the standard width of railway flat cars. rmay avail myself of this difference by providing-autei natic means to fold up the ladder whenever-the body'is placed on a truck, and means to extend it ready for use whenever the body is placdon a"; railway car.

This automatic operation is also included within my invention.

My invention is illustrated in the drawings hereof, and is hereinafter more fully explained, and the essential novel features are set forth in 5 the claims.

In the drawings Figs. 1 and 2 are side 'elevations of the body on a railway flat car, and on a highway truck, respectively; Fig. 3 is a hurl-'- zontal section through the side wall of the body 10 adjacent one corner, showing in plan the ladder in its active position, the plane of this view being indicated, for instance, on the line 33 on Fig. 1: Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4--4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a vertical section in the same 15 location showing the ladder folded; Fig, 6 is a detail illustrating a clamp which may engage the upright bar of the ladder when folded; Fig. 7 is a; horizontal section of the corner of the body wherein the ladder is mounted in a vertical recess 20 in the side wall of the body; Figs. 8 and 9are sectional elevations, respectively transversely and longitudinally of the body, illustrating the automatic mechanism holding the ladder extended when the body is on the platform of a railway 25 car; Fig. 10 is a longitudinal section illustrating the automatic mechanism for holding the ladder folded, when mounted on a highway truck. Fig.

11 is a detail in horizontal section through the region of the ladder, showing the location of the 3 hinge straps for the adjacent end door.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, A indicates a railway fiat car, fB a highway truck, and,C

a demountable body mounted interchangeably thereon.- This body has a fioor'frame, side and 35 end walls and roof, and is equipped with doors in the sides and ends. The side doors are designated c in these views and oneof the end doors c in Fig. '7. The body has suitable means whereby it m be raised his lowered by hoisting mech- 40 anisin to transfer. it between a truck and railway car, such means comprising side strapsc terminating in hooks c at the eaves for the attachmerit; of hoisting mechanisms. These side straps arebraced by diagonal braces 0 all of these straps being riveted to the side wall designated c The side walls 0 and the endwalls c of the' body are preferably connected at the corner by the vertical angle bar 0''. The end wall c is a narrow plate terminating at its inner end at the door jamb; which may be a Z-bar c, Fig. 7.

Such a b'ody as" above described is in use at the present time for interchangeable highway and rail transportation. 'ro equip such body with thy ladder, I may secure brackets "I at Suitable iiitervals to the side flange of the corner angle bar and secure corresponding brackets l2 to the side of the car some distance from the corner. Each of these brackets has bases whereby they may be riveted in place, and are provided with bifurcated ears II and 13 to which the ladder rungs are pivoted. The brackets I2 are shown as having thicker bases so that their ears stand the same distance from the side wall as the ears H, and the side wall in this region is preferably reinforced by a vertical plate indicated at I and riveted in place. The diagonal brace bar 0 near the end of the body, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,

crosses the ladder and naturally passes between two of the brackets I2. The brace bar, however, is comparatively flat and can be disregarded so far as the ladder is concerned.

The ladder rungs comprise shallow bails 20 which have eyes at the ends of their arms with horizontal openings, these eyes extendingbetween' the bifurcated ears to which they are pivoted by bolts 30, which may carry cotter pins 3!. Each bail arm is provided belowits pivot with anextension 2| formed to abut the outer face of the bracket It] or l2 when the bail is horizontal, and thus hold the rung in operating position. Each bail is provided at one end with a projecting stud 23 passing through an opening in a vertical arm 40, engaged by all of the balls. r

It follows from the above described construction that the ladder rungs are operated as a unit and are all either down in active position or are up in idle position. When folded up in the latter position, the ladder may be retained folded by a spring clamp 50, riveted to the side of the body and engaging the vertical rod 40 as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. When the ladder is folded the construction projects only a short distance beyond the side of the body and may thus stand within the side clearance allowed for the door locks.

To protect the ladder from possible injury by a side blow, I may provide fixed beams secured to the side of the body and projecting out as far as the ears of the brackets If] and 12. Such beams may be conveniently located so as not to obstruct the space for the users foot when the ladder is in its active position. In Figs. 1, 2, and 11 I have shown such protecting beams in the form of comparatively heavy hinge straps 55 carrying the pintles for the hinge straps 56 secured to the adjacent end door. Thus the same member 55 mayperform the double function of effectively anchoring the hinge pintle to the side of the car, relieving the end wall from stresses of the load bearing against the door, and at the same time providing a protection for the folded ladder and itssupporting brackets. If, in transferring the body between a truck and railway car, it should swing into engagement with a column or wall, for instance, the'impact would be received by thestraps55 instead of by ladder rungs or the supporting brackets.

Sometimes it is desirable to prevent the folded ladder projecting beyond the side of the body even by the amount of the brackets l0 and I2. In such case, I may inset the ladder into a recess in the body. This isillustratedin Fig. 7, where the sidewall c does not reach the corner angle beamc", but terminates in a Z-bar 60, the outer flange-of which iszriveted to the side plate 0 and the inner flange of which is riveted to a plate 6 I, continuing the side on an inner location. The end portion of this plate adjacent the corner angle iron may continue across a corner post 63, .set into the-angle against the end plate 0 and be riveted to such corner post and the flange of the angle bar.

I have heretofore utilized the idle space at the end between the Z-bar door frame and the side of the car for a ventilation flue, by means of an additional vertical plate set back from the end a distance corresponding to the inward projection of the Z-bar. In Fig. '7 such plate is shown at 64 and it has a flanged end 65 also secured to the corner post. I have shown the two plates BI and 64 welded together at their junction. Thus a very firm and effective corner is provided.

In the external recess left by the inset wall 6| above described, I provide the pivotal supports for the ladder bails. In this case each bail 20a has inwardly projecting arms with horizontal eyes in them through which rivets or bolts pass through the web of the Z-bar 60 and into the corner post 63. Each arm of the bail is provided with extensions similar to the extensions 2| shown in Figs. 4 and 5 to hold the bail horizontal when folded down, and the various bails have likewise projectingstuds entering a common bar 40a, similar to the bar 40, to cause them to operate as a unit. When such ladder is folded down it is supported in the same manner as the form previously described, and when folded up it lies entirely within the vertical recess, so that there is no side projection beyond the normal width of the body. 7

Referring now to Figs. 8,9, and 10, which illustrate the automatic operation, it will be seen that I have extended one of the bail arms of a ladder rung 20 inwardly, as at 1B, and have connected it by a slot H in the extension to a pin 12 on a vertically slidable rod 13, carried by suitable guides secured to the wall of the body. This rod passes downwardly through the floor of the container and is there connected to a lever 15 pivotally mounted at 16 on a suitable pivot carried by the floor frame within the idle space heneath the floor.

The lever 15 is provided with a downwardly extending projection or bumper H, which may engage the fioor of the car A when the body is deposited thereon. When. such engagement takes place the bumper causes the lever to take the position shown in Figs. 8 and 9, which through the rods 13 acts on the arm 10 to move the bail into the extended position shown in full lines, or to hold it in that position if it was previously extended.

Now, if a body so equipped is mounted on a highway truck as shown in Fig. 10, space is provided in the frame of the truck opposite the bumper 11 so that the bumper is idle, while a bumper 18 on the truck engages the lever 75 on the other side of its pivot 16 and thus swings the lever into the position shown in Fig. 10. This pulls down on the rod 13, and swings the bail of the ladder into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8. a

As all of the bails are connected together by the vertical bar 40 or 400., it follows that it is only necessary to connect theautomatic mechanism withone of the bails. To prevent any jamming due to inaccuracyof the mechanism, I may provide a spring 19 in the connection from the rod 13 to the lever 15. e

It will be seen that in. the automatic construction illustrated in Figs. 8, 9, and 10, whenever the body is deposited on the truck, where it is important for the ladder to be folded, such folding action takes place automatically; while, on the other hand, wherea bodyis deposited on a flat 7 position while the body is being lifted. Whenever car, where there is sufflcient space for the ladder to remain extended, the ladder is automatical- 1y extended immediately upon deposit of the it is deposited on the flat car, however, the consequent upward movement of the rod 13 has suflicient force to disengage the rod 40 or 40a from the retaining clip.

It will be seen that whether I employv the automatic mechanism or use merely the manual folding mechanism, I have provided a ladder which may effectively project from the side ofv a body when it is mounted on a' railway car and enable theattendant readily to reach the roof of the body, while when the body is mounted on a truck, the ladder may be folded to position where it will not project beyond the side wall of the body, or beyond the clearance allowed for the side door locks on such bodies.

I claim: V

1. The combination of a container, two vertical rows of brackets on a wall thereof having outstanding cars, a ladder made up of separate bails having its arms pivoted to said ears, each arm having a projection below the pivot adapted to engage the face of the bracket to limit the downward movement of the bails, and an upright rod pivotally connected to the bails, whereby they may be simultaneously swung up, and means on the container acting on the rod and adapted to engage or clear a support to extend orfold the ladder automatically according to the nature of the support on which the body is deposited.

2. A container, a folding ladder carried thereby, and mechanism on the container adapted to fold or extend the ladder, combinedwith a railway car and a highway truck, either of which is adapted to support the container and one of them acting on the mechanism to extend the ladder and the other to act on the mechanism to fold the ladder when the container is deposited on such vehicle.

3. A container, a folding ladder carried thereby, and mechanism on the container adapted to fold or extend the ladder, combined with a railway car adapted to support the container and act on the mechanism to extend the ladder when the container is deposited on such car.

4. A container, a folding ladder carried thereby, and mechanism on the container adapted to fold or extend the ladder, combined with a highway truck adapted to support the container and act on the mechanism to fold the ladder when the container is deposited on such truck.

5. A container, a folding ladder carried thereby, an intermediately pivoted lever on the base of the container, a connection between the lever and the ladder to fold or extend the ladder ac- V cording to which way the lever is. swung, combined with a railway car and a highway truck,

either of which is adapted to support the container and one of them to engage and raise the lever on one side of its pivot and the other to engage and raise the lever on the other side of its pivot when the container is deposited onv such vehicle.

6. The combination of a demountable body adapted to be mounted lengthwise on a truck and having an external vertical recess in one of its side walls, a folding ladder pivotally mounted so as to fold within the recess, said ladder being extensible beyond the confines of the recess to provide effective means to enable one to mount to the top of the body, and means carried by the body to retain said ladder folded in the recess.

7. The combination of a demountable freight container having an inset portion in one of its walls adjacent the corner, and a folding ladder comprising a series of bails having their arms projecting into the recess provided by the inset portion and pivoted within the recess to the body, means for supporting the bails when extended horizontally, and means for holding the bails substantially in a common vertical plane folded within the recess.

8. The combination of a demountable container, a folding ladder carried by one wall thereof and-comprising a series of bails, means pivotally coupling the various bails so that they will operate as a unit into folded and unfolded positions, a lever in the base of the container adapted to engage a support on which the container is adapted to rest, and connecting mechanism between said lever and'the ladder, whereby the operation of the lever may move the bails into one of said positions when the container is set down on such support. 

